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UN voices concern over renewed clashes in eastern DRC

21 May 2013 03:12 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA.The UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Monday voiced its concerns over the renewed clashes between government troops and M23 rebels near the eastern DRC city of Goma, a UN spokesman told reporters here, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"The United Nations Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) says that early Monday morning, fighting broke out in the localities of Kibati and Rusayo, some 12 kilometers from Goma, between combatants of the M23 armed groups and soldiers of the Congolese armed forces," said Eduardo del Buey, deputy spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, at a daily briefing.

"The Mission reports that initial skirmishes escalated to the use of heavy caliber weapons, mortars and rocket launchers," del Buey said.

According to the spokesman, MONUSCO also cited reports that the Congolese armed forces used attack helicopters in one of their operations.

"MONUSCO has expressed its concerns about this incident and the mission is actively pursuing a diplomatic and political solution to contain and end the clashes," he added.

The eastern DRC has witnessed armed clashes over the past months, after a newly-formed rebel group M23 launched an insurgency in North Kivu in early 2012.

The M23 rebels seized Goma, capital of the North Kivu province, before pulling out under regional pressure to facilitate peace talks late last year.

In March, the UN Security Council authorized the deployment of an intervention brigade within MONUSCO to carry out targeted offensive operations, with or without the Congolese national army, against armed groups that threaten peace in the eastern DRC.

Since late April, the M23 rebels have threatened to attack Goma and other towns in the North Kivu province, even claiming that they are ready to attack the UN intervention force in case it attacks their bases.